Resolutions
by Paper Pearls
Summary: There comes a point when decisiveness is required, and New Year's Eve is the perfect time for this truth to be recognised. A selection of characters making New Year's resolutions, starting with Draco Malfoy.
1. Draco Malfoy

**This is my response to SlytherinPrincess02's 'New Year Challenge'.**

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Draco Malfoy

The baby is small – smaller than he had expected, considering the magnitude of the changes it has brought about. It is lighter too, although Draco holds the bundle carefully, frightened of dropping him. After nine long months of waiting, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy is finally with them – a belated Christmas present. Astoria is sleeping, exhausted after the birth, and so father and son are alone together for the first time.

Quietly, Draco carries the baby over to the window so that he can take yet another look at his features. He takes in the tufts of blonde hair, the rounded little cheeks and the way that the perfectly defined mouth is set in a line that seems to show surprising character despite containing no definable expression. The only difference now is that two blue eyes, as round as coins, are looking up at him. Astoria told him that all baby's eyes are blue in the beginning, and Draco is curious to see if their son will inherit her hazel or his grey. The baby – Scorpius, he corrects himself – simply watches him. Draco opens his mouth, ready to call Astoria if their son cries; now that the child has arrived, he feels woefully unprepared.

However, Scorpius' lips do not quiver, and no mewling screams are formed in his strangely powerful little lungs. Instead, he regards his father with what could almost be described as curiosity. Draco gives a tentative smile, willing the child to like him. He knows that it's a foolish thought, because Scorpius hasn't the faintest idea who he is, nor is his infant son capable of the majority of human interactions, and yet Draco hopes that the little boy feels safe.

With more tenderness than he had thought himself capable, Draco slips his smallest finger into one tiny curling hand. He knows for the first time in his life that he has done something good: the proof is cradled in his arms, watching him intently. His son has no lines on those little fingers, and Draco thinks that his little boy has the potential to achieve any destiny – only, nobody knows what it is that the Malfoy heir will be. He is yet to be shaped and moulded by the people closest to him.

As of yet, Scorpius is free of any of the wrongs that Draco knows people are capable of making. He hasn't made a mistake in his entire life, the span of which is less than a day, and although Draco knows that he cannot always keep his son innocent, he is determined to keep him from following his father's footsteps into darkness. As the bells ring out, a fitting accolade for the newborn Malfoy heir, Draco makes a silent promise to ignore the mark on his arm and be a good father – nothing more, and certainly nothing less.

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	2. Ginny Weasley

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Ginny Weasley

It's changing them all. Slowly but surely, the war is taking its toll on every last one of them. Yet, nobody seems to be willing to admit it. Her father will pat her awkwardly on the shoulder and tell her not to worry, and her mother will tell her that children have no business in. Of all of her brothers, it was always Bill that Ginny felt able to confide in, and yet he tries a little too hard to point out the good in life (his recent and successful marriage to Fleur).

She can see it in their eyes, even if they aren't prepared to admit it: they are tired of fighting, their resolve being worn thin by fear. All of her family are longing for a day when their most pressing concern will be arriving at work late or having an uncomfortable conversation with someone of whom they aren't especially fond. And so is Ginny. They all feel guilty for it – weak. Ginny knows that it's selfish, yet she can't help but wish that it was someone else's boyfriend that was out there, with a new rumour about his death circulating every day, and that Harry will be waiting downstairs, ready to kiss her when the bells begin to ring.

He won't be, though, and Ginny knows it. She clings to the idea that next year, Harry just might be with her for Christmas and New Year. She imagines how different next year's festive season will be: the only reason that she will cry will be because of laughter. The only reason anyone may die will be because they weren't appreciative enough of her mother's superb cooking.

Ginny knows that they will miss the people that should be sitting beside them when the war is over, and she knows that she will never forget being sick with fear, or how it felt to see so much suffering. However, she and Harry are going to spend Christmas and New Year together no matter what. This she promises to Harry, wherever he may be, and wonders if he can hear bells ringing. And if he has time to think of her as they do.

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	3. Amos Diggory

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Amos Diggory

This will be the year, he vows. He will do his best – no, he _will_ leave Cedric's memory where it belongs: the past. He owes it to the child he couldn't keep alive, to allow him to rest in peace. Amos knows that his son was braver than him. Stronger, too. Cedric would be able to do what his father had not succeeded in; he would have found it within himself to carry on.

Often, Amos had been accused of overplaying his hand in the paternal bragging stakes. But Cedric had always been a good boy – better than good, although it didn't do to harp on about it – and done the right thing with less prodding than most. Now, there was nobody who would disagree with him; _Hadn't Cedric been a bright young lad? A powerful young wizard? Sure to make his father proud? _Only, those words didn't do his boy justice. There was no way to describe his impulsive kindnesses, or the way he had routinely polished his broomstick after a match. And Amos would exchange every last one of them for a moment with Cedric.

His son would also have the heart to tell him that he was doing the right thing, and the compassion to tell him not to worry. However, if Cedric were in a position to say anything of the sort, Amos would not be facing his present dilemma: the bells would soon ring, as sure and as solemn as they had done at Cedric's funeral, declaring time's steady march.

He can spend the next year of his life, and the next, and the next focussing upon his son's death.

Or Amos can try, day by day, to treasure his son's memory by making the most of what little was left in his life; to move on, but never to forget. Never.

As the fireworks explode, propelling the world into a bright new beginning, Amos does not look away. Instead, he allows himself to look on, unblinking, at the future they represent. He is resolved to carry on. Voldemort is out there somewhere, and if Amos can do anything to honour Cedric it is to stand against his murderer.

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